Suspect charged as accessory in Mich. mom's slaying

Jun. 14, 2014
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Missing posters hang on trees as police continue to look for Kristian Justice, 8 months, and his sister Kaylah Hunter, 6, in Detroit on Wednesday June 11, 2014. The children and their mother, Alicia Fox, vanished last month. The body of Alicia Fox, 27, was found Monday with multiple gunshot wounds, wrapped in blankets hidden underneath a door in a basement. / Romain Blanquart, Detroit Free Press

by Gina Damron and Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press

by Gina Damron and Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT -- As police continue the search for two missing Detroit children after their mother was found dead, a man accused of helping the woman's husband - after she was killed - was arraigned Friday.

Timothy B. Jones, 27, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to a felony and appeared via video in Detroit's 36th District Court.

Prosecutors accused Jones of knowing that Alicia Fox was dead and aiding her husband, Erin Justice, after her homicide. Justice, who is being held in a Georgia jail, is facing a murder charge in Fox's slaying.

Jones was ordered held on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to be in court June 25 for his preliminary examination.

Fox's decomposing body was found Monday in the basement of an abandoned home on Penrod, on the city's west side.

Her two children - 8-month-old Kristian Justice, whose father is Erin Justice, and 6-year-old Kaylah Hunter - are still missing.

Justice, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder, felony firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm and is being held in Fulton County Jail in Georgia pending extradition to Michigan.

If convicted on the murder charge, Justice faces life in prison without parole.

According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Justice is accused of fatally shooting Fox sometime between May 25 and 27 in their home.

A person familiar with the investigation previously told the Detroit Free Press that a bullet was recovered from a wall in the home.

Jones allegedly helped move Fox's body out of a crawl space, according to the source. On Thursday, Jones showed police where he had tossed bullet casings into the sewer not far from the home, the source said.

Jones' family declined to comment after the hearing Friday.

Attorney Michaell Crews - who said she was standing in for Jones' attorney, Randall Upshaw - said Jones works as a carpenter and doesn't have a history of violence. She had asked for a lower bond for Jones.

"He's been gainfully employed, has strong family support," Crews said, adding that he found himself "in a bad situation."